Blue Wild Ocean Adventure and Marine Art Expo Set for April 23-24
Florida’s only consumer water sports event to feature exhibits, demos and marine art

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (January 7, 2016) – The 9th annual Blue Wild Ocean Adventure and Marine Art Expo is set to take place at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center from April 23 to 24, 2016.

Spanning more than 65,000 square feet and featuring more than 150 exhibitors, the interactive Expo will include seminars and demonstrations covering watersports such as freediving, spearfishing, SUP, surf, scuba, and underwater photography and videography. Additional exhibits include adventure travel, beachwear fashion shows, water toys by Nautical Ventures, and a Contender Boats display.

This year’s event includes an indoor pool where guests can try out new water toys and take part in professional demonstrations including breath-hold techniques, stand up paddleboarding (SUP), yoga, and kayaking. The Kids Corner will include many free activities including marine-themed face painting, marine art classes and bean bag throws.

The Expo boasts one of the most extensive marine art and photo exhibits in the country. Marine artists include Carey Chen, Pascal Lecocq, Randall Scott, Steve Ozment, Craig Dietrich, Don Ray, K.C. Scott, and Manny Puig. The South Florida Underwater Photography Society (SFUPS) will display works from accomplished club members.

Visit TheBlueWild.com to learn more about the 2016 Blue Wild Photo/Video Contest, sponsored by Force-E and SFUPS. Winning entries will be on display and announced on Saturday at 5:30 pm.

“We strive to offer an exciting atmosphere where ocean lovers can see the latest products, get great deals, listen to the best speakers, and meet other watersport enthusiasts,” said Sheri Daye, the event’s producer. “We’re entering our ninth year and this is our biggest and most exciting show yet.”

Admission is $25 at the door. Kids 12 and under are free. Admission includes entry to the Saturday night Blue Wild After Party at the Courtyard Marriott Fort Lauderdale Beach where guests can mingle with industry experts and celebrities and enjoy music, BBQ and happy hour prices all night.

Show hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. The Blue Wild After Party is from 7:30 to 11:00 p.m. For more information please visit TheBlueWild.com. “Like” The Blue Wild Ocean Adventure Expo on Facebook at Facebook/TheBlueWild on Instagram/the_blue_wild and on Twitter @TheBlueWildExpo.

Only 3 days to the opening of the 2016 Blue Wild event!! Its going to be a phenomenal time! Many thanks to Sheri Daye and all involved who have worked their tails off to bring us this world class event! Hope to see you all there!

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If you stay in this sport, and really apply yourself , in 10 years you might be the diver you think you are today.

What a great event! Sheri had over twice the amount of square footage compared to previous years and filled it all! Even with double the space, when you put in a lot more exhibitors and have a larger crowd, it still was rocking!

It was like the greatest show of quality dive gear on the planet! I spent hours talking to a lot of the exhibitors and really enjoyed the conversations(also snagged quite a few great diving items at the best prices of the year)....met some new great people and reconnected with people from expo's past. Just a great time!

The artwork was gorgeous and there seemed to be a lot more exhibitor variety like the Lionfish group and the save the Coral Reefs people. I even got offered a spot on an upcoming Playmate dive trip! I politely declined (mentioned that I had my own boat) but if I didn't, i'd sure take a long look at one of their trips....seemed like a great operation!

Words simply can't and don't do one of these events justice! If you haven't gotten off your duff and made the effort to attend one of these events, you really should make it a point to attend the next one! You will never regret spending a day or the entire w/e at the event, I promise!

Thanks again to Miz Sheri Daye and the staff for once again pulling off an amazing weekend. We all appreciate it!

Hope to see you all at the 2017 Blue Wild!!!

__________________
If you stay in this sport, and really apply yourself , in 10 years you might be the diver you think you are today.

Yeah the show has grown a lot from being at the IGFA.
Always look forward to the show each year.

I had no idea it was twice the square footage of last year....we were discussing the size of the 2nd floor vs 1st floor and I was thinking it was just a bit larger....knew there were extra corridors upstairs, but was a way off I guess haha.